MPs brawl as Zuma delivers state of nation speech

Chaos erupts in parliament as security forces drag opposition MPs trying to interrupt president out of the chamber.

10 Feb 2017 10:27 GMT

South Africa's parliament has witnessed chaotic scenes, with opposition MPs denouncing President Jacob Zuma as a "scoundrel" and "rotten to the core" because of corruption allegations, and then clashing with guards who dragged them out of the chamber.

The events of Thursday unfolded on national television as opposition legislators tried to stop Zuma from addressing the chamber, repeatedly insulting him and declaring him unfit for office.

In the surrounding streets of Cape Town, police and hundreds of military forces patrolled to guard against protesters who want Zuma, 74, to quit.

Security teams eventually were called into the chamber to remove red-clad members of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters, some of whom threw punches and beat guards with plastic helmets.

Politicians from the Democratic Alliance, the country's biggest opposition group, then walked out in protest.

Alex Vines, the head of the Africa programme at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera that Thursday's brawl was "indicative of the disillusionment that's growing of mainstream politics in South Africa".

"The biggest single problem in South Africa is a crisis of leadership. South Africa needs coherent, consistent leadership to weather the challenges of globalisation, low commodity prices, and other issues that South Africa is facing," he said.

"It makes the decision on who the next leader of the ANC is so critical and some of the politics that we saw in the parliament today is playing into that kind of narrative. There will be some in the ANC who will be a bit embarrassed, but rather pleased with what just happened."